Daegu lamb skewer restaurant, ₩72,000 dinner for three: Yangbokjeom

Where is Yangbokjeom Dongdaegu Station Branch, and what did we order?

Yangbokjeom Dongdaegu Station Branch is a lamb skewer restaurant at 37 Dongbu-ro 30-gil, Dong-gu, Daegu, close to Dongdaegu Station and Daegu Shinsegae Department Store. I was looking for somewhere to have dinner near Dongdaegu Station and suddenly craved lamb skewers after a long time, so I came here.

Looking up reviews beforehand, a lot of people said the meat was thick and had little of the gamey smell lamb usually has, so I went in with high expectations.

What time does the wait start at Yangbokjeom?

There was already a wait at Yangbokjeom Dongdaegu Station Branch at 5:30pm. I was a little surprised there was already a line at only 5:30.

Customers seem to pile in earlier than you'd expect, so if you want a relaxed meal, I'd recommend booking a reservation before you go.

Inside the restaurant

The inside was clean and tidy. Instead of the slightly chaotic feel typical lamb skewer places tend to have, it was neat overall, which made it a pleasant place to eat.

Yangbokjeom menu prices and meat origins

Looking at the menu, there was more than just lamb skewers — lamb loin skewers, lamb rib racks and other lamb dishes, plus Chinese-style dishes like kkuabaorou (sweet and sour crispy pork) and mapo tofu and eggplant dishes.

There were also rice-meal options like onmyeon (jade noodles) and fried rice, which looked good for finishing off after the meat.

There was also a separate origin board off to one side. Lamb was listed as from Australia, pork from the US, with the origin marked per menu item, so you could check before eating.

Side dishes and the sauce lineup

The table setting was prepared in advance and paired nicely with the skewers. The peanuts were surprisingly good so I kept reaching for them, and the zha cai (pickled mustard root) was crunchy and salty, which went well with the lamb skewers.

Each table had cumin oil, curry powder and cumin powder set out for the skewers, so you could scoop out whatever combination you liked onto a small plate. There's fun in mixing your own preferred sauce combo.

Wangkkochi ₩18,000 vs lamb loin skewer ₩23,000

At Yangbokjeom Dongdaegu Station Branch, wangkkochi is ₩18,000 and the lamb loin skewer is ₩23,000. The two we ordered came out together, so I could set them side by side and compare them right away.

The meat was definitely bigger than typical lamb skewers. Big, plump pieces of meat were skewered on, so even raw they looked pretty appetizing just from the visuals.

Wangkkochi on the left, lamb loin skewer on the right — both looked delicious. The meat was quite thick, so it seemed like the juices would stay locked in once grilled over charcoal.

Once we put both onto the charcoal grill, they started sizzling and slowly browning from the outside in.

Best of all, the skewers rotated on their own as they cooked, which was so convenient. No need to keep flipping each one by hand — they cooked evenly on their own, and it was fun just watching them turn while waiting.

The surface of the meat slowly turned golden brown, and just watching it made my mouth water.

I picked up whichever one finished cooking first and tried it right away — grilled over charcoal, the outside was slightly crisp and the inside was cooked through and juicy.

Eating it, the meat was definitely thick, so it had a good chew to it. With each bite you could really taste the flavor of the meat itself, and a nutty note came through more the more you chewed. There was some of that characteristic lamb flavor, but almost none of the off-putting gamey smell, plus the charcoal aroma made it even better.

Alternating between wangkkochi and the lamb loin skewer made the texture difference a bit more obvious. The loin felt softer than the wangkkochi, with a tender give when you chewed it. It was mild yet nutty, and the juiciness came through well, so I kept reaching for more.

Both had their own charm, so rather than picking just one, ordering both and alternating between them lets you feel the difference between them more clearly.

Kkuabaorou (sweet and sour fried pork), ₩21,000

Kkuabaorou at Yangbokjeom Dongdaegu Station Branch is ₩21,000. It felt like a shame to only order lamb skewers, so we got this too — the crispy fried batter combined with a sweet and tangy sauce made it a good dish to eat in between skewers.

The meat itself was tender and the outside was really crispy, so both the texture and the taste were good.

If the lamb skewers are nutty and rich, kkuabaorou is sweet and tangy, so eating one in between the other switches up your palate a little. A good side dish to order and share.

Finishing with onmyeon (chewy corn noodles), ₩8,000

Lastly, we ordered onmyeon (₩8,000), which turned out to pair quite well as a finishing dish after the lamb skewers. Noodles in a warm broth that's slightly spicy with a deep savory flavor — after eating the meat, spooning up the broth felt like it really settled the stomach.

The noodles had a springy texture that went well with the broth, and after the meat, having that spicy broth kept me reaching for more. If you feel like it's a shame to stop right after the lamb skewers, I'd recommend ordering onmyeon too.

What three people paid at Yangbokjeom: ₩72,000

• Wangkkochi ₩18,000
• Lamb loin skewer ₩23,000
• Kkuabaorou ₩21,000
• Onmyeon ₩8,000
• Drink ₩2,000
• Total ₩72,000 (for 3 people)